Did elizabethan women hate or refuse to have an arranged marriage?

Question

i'm writing a rpt on it and need web sites if possible

Answer 1

Upper class girls often were married off at an early age, marriages were generally arranged between families.  Love matches did happen, 'nobody had any objections to love so long as the price was right' as Alison Plowden put it.  In other words, love matches were okay so long as the person you loved came from the right social class and had enough money.

Amongst the common people, it was more usual for people to choose their own spouses.  Most people did not get married until they were in their mid twenties as they would work and save until they could afford to set up a household together.  Young people generally socialised in groups, which allowed people plenty of time to get to know possible mates before they had to make up their minds.

A famous example from the Tudor period of a girl trying to refuse an arranged marriage was Jane Seymour,who did not want to marry Guildford Dudley, and was beaten until she gave in.  Another earlier example is from the letters of the Paston family, in the fifteenth century,Margaret Paston beat her daughter for refusing to marry the man her parents had chosen.  In theory, at least, both partners in a marriage were supposed to be willing, but in case slike these pressure could be brought to bear by the families.

Answer 2

what do you mean by elizabethan woman? what are they? can you be more specific?

Answer 3

Husbands of upper class girls were chosen for them by their fathers or other male relatives. Very few men and women of noble birth chose their own partners. Marriages were arranged for political reasons, to cement alliances, for riches, land, or status, and to forge bonds between two families. The idea of marrying for love was considered bizarre and foolish. Royal marriages were contracted largely for political, military, or trade advantages. It sometimes happened that the couple never saw each other until the day of their wedding.

In the homes of the poor, there was almost a rush to marry off daughters as it was believed that once they reached a certain age – about 14 – they would have been seen as being too old for marrying off and therefore a liability at home - one extra mouth to feed and no extra income coming into the house.

For more info on Tudor Women and Marriages visit

http://tudors.crispen.org/tudor_women/

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/wom...

http://www.elizabethi.org/us/women/